Recipe: Grilled Lamb Kebabs With Flavors of Greece

If you’ve just finished reading about Cycling Ancient Greece From Sparta to Kalamata Plus! Pylos and can’t wait to get a taste of Greece, we hope this simple recipe will satisfy your taste buds … at least until you can taste the local version while cycling in Greece!

Ingredients
(Serves 4)

2 pounds boneless leg of lamb
¼ cup plus 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tablespoons minced garlic
⅓ cup roughly chopped fresh marjoram

Recipe

Heat grill to a medium high temperature. (With a charcoal grill you can hold your hand 5 inches above the coals for 3 to 4 seconds. For a gas grill, turn all burners to high, lower cover and heat for 15 minutes, then turn burners to medium high.)

While the fire is heating up, trim the lamb of all but a thin layer of fat and cut into 32 more-or-less-equal chunks. Combine in a bowl with the 1/4 cup of olive oil and the salt and pepper and toss well to coat, then thread them onto skewers, about 8 chunks per skewer; they should snuggle up to one another but not be tightly pressed.

Put the skewers directly over the coals and cook, turning to expose all 4 sides to the direct heat of the coals, until done to your liking, 2 to 3 minutes a side (8 to 12 minutes total) for medium rare. To check for doneness, cut into one of the chunks and check to see if it is done to your liking — remove from the heat when it is just slightly less done than you want it to be when you eat it.

While the lamb is cooking, prepare the remaining ingredients but keep in separate containers.

Slide the lamb chunks off the skewers into a large bowl, add the remaining oil, lemon juice, garlic and marjoram one after another, toss well to coat, season to taste if needed and serve.

Recipe adapted from the New Your Times